A violist who sustained a life-changing hearing injury at a rehearsal of Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre at the Royal Opera House (ROH) in London in 2012 has won a landmark case against his employer. The High Court ruling sets the first legal precedent around noise-induced “acoustic shock”.

Contractors who cut through a pipe at Stanlow Oil Terminal in Cheshire and caused an explosion in an oil treatment tank had been issued a permit to work copied from the previous week’s, though the hazard profile had changed, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told IOSH Magazine.